Sports

Sports Commentary 10/18/13

Tim Boyle wouldn’t rate his debut as UCONN’s starting quarterback last week against South Florida as a rousing success. The true freshman out of Xavier in Middletown points first to a low completion rate and a couple of missed reads, legitimate points. In fairness to Boyle, however, a number of the incompletions were right in the hands of recievers and were dropped, at least three of them had a chance to be touchdowns.

There was much more success, and promise for the future, in Boyle’s baptism under fire than the numbers might suggest. His first pass as a college quarterback went for a first down. His last pass in his first game fell harmlessly to the turf in the end zone. That last one, a “Hail Mary” heave from midfield in the direction of Geremy Davis, may have told us more about Tim Boyle than any other pass he threw in his coming out party. Ask any coach and they’ll tell you, for all the scrambling and mayhem that goes on when a team is trying to author a miracle finish on the final play, there is more method than madness to that old “Hail Mary”. I know. I asked the coach who called this one, and T.J. Weist gave Boyle a better than passing grade. For a kid facing this kind of pressure for the first time, Boyle came through with flying colors.

“He did exactly what he was supposed to do”, Weist said of the poise and ability Boyle demonstrated on that final play, “He put the ball two yards into the end zone. We had a reciever in a position to make the play. The defensive back kinda stepped up and tipped the ball.”

Anyone who remembers Doug Flutie to Gerard Phelan will tell you you don’t just scramble and chuck up a prayer if this play is going to have any chance of working. Everyone has a job to do and if they don’t all do their jobs the play has no chance.

“We had a tipped ball”, Weist repeated the importance of that factor, “We had everything we wanted. Geremy was in position to make that play and the defensive back just stepped in and made the play on him. We tipped it up but we didn’t have a reciever behind, which there should have been.”

Execution is one part of having a chance to pull out an incredible win on the final play, state of mind is an even bigger factor. “That play is about one thing”, said Weist, “You have to believe that that play is going to happen. If you don’t believe it you’re not going to do your job. It happens three or four times a season. Guys catch that ball because they’re in the right position because they believe it’s going to happen.”

Adding, “It’s the last play of the game and you have to give it everything you have to make it happen”, Weist gives Boyle his due for making the perfect throw from midfield. “Everything was in line and Tim put it up there like he’s supposed to. He put it right where everything was in line.”

As the ball was falling to the turf, Tim Boyle’s stock was rising. Going into his first college game Tim Boyle confidently told us he was ready, coming out we saw that he was. Next test, Cincinnati.